Friday, March 14, 2008

NEW PORTRAIT OF MOZART DISCOVERED - THE HICKEL PORTRAIT - BUT LANGE REMAINS THE ONE IN MY MIND

RESPONSE TO A COLUMN IN THE TIMES

Constanze always said that the one portrait that most resembled Mozart was the unfinished Lange portrait, which has him looking down with a sense of lightness and sensitive intelligence.

I've always thought of Mozart in terms of Lange's portrait.

This "new" Hickel portrait is not incompatible with Lange's for physical features, but it lacks the spark and delicacy in the face, qualities that without any doubt Mozart possessed abundantly.